Turn automatic syncing on or off on Mac

You can sync content automatically whenever you connect your device to your Mac, or sync content manually.

See Intro to syncing your Mac and your devices.

  1. Connect your device to your Mac.

    You can connect your device using a USB or USB-C cable or using a Wi-Fi connection. See Sync content between your Mac and iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch over Wi-Fi.

  2. In the Finder on your Mac, select the device in the Finder sidebar.

    A device selected in the Finder sidebar.

    If you connect your device to your Mac using a USB cable and don’t see the device in the Finder sidebar, see If your device doesn’t appear in the sidebar.

  3. Click General in the button bar.

    The button bar showing General selected.

  4. Select “Automatically sync when this [device] is connected” to turn on automatic syncing.

    Syncing options, with “Automatically sync when this [device] is connected” selected.

  5. Click Apply.

Before disconnecting your device from your Mac, click the Eject button in the Finder sidebar.

See alsoIntro to syncing your Mac and your devicesSync content between your Mac and iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch over Wi-Fi